We’re Wild Up. We’re a band. An experiment in its second decade. We make shows, and records. We make projects and tell stories that live somewhere between new music and theater and performance art and pop. The press says things about us. Our leader has a beard. We embrace the kindness of friends and strangers. We have dogs and gardens and kids. We once made the Himalayas out of cardboard, and sang atop them to the stars. We take photos with talismanic art objects. We’re repped by David Lieberman Artists Representatives.
The Collective Orchestra
This is Wild Up’s participatory orchestral model: a framework where community members rehearse and perform side-by-side with Wild Up musicians. It’s an invitation onto our side of the music stand and into the ensemble itself — a place to learn, experiment, co-create, and experience the joy of making music together. More on this Project
Endless Season 25|26
This season, our programming spans centuries and scenes, bridging devotional traditions with avant-garde experimentation, ancient mysticism with radical contemporary thought. We gather music from the margins, from outsiders, visionaries, and mystics to imagine new futures. Alongside these histories, we celebrate today’s artists who are building something shared, creating music that reckons with the past and fosters new forms of presence and connection. More on this Project
Julius Eastman Anthology
A portrait and series of responses to one of our favorite composers. A four year journey toward, and in the midst of, a composer’s ideas about creativity, agency, identity, thoughtfulness and heart. More on this Project
Darkness Sounding
Mindful music during the darkest time of the year. More on this Project
Future Folk
Wherein we indoctrinate the audience into a cult of love and joy that we are already part of. Then together, we attempt to end the world using music. More on this Project
of Ascension
We’re fascinated with the heavens and the Internet. Of Ascension is built around the idea that we’re, all of us, searching for ourselves in sometimes all the wrong places. The music of: Rebel, Coltrane, George Lewis, Jen Hill, Julius Eastman, Ted Hearne, Brian Ferneyhough, and others. More on this Project
We The People: A Residency
A community program where we create new open score postal pieces with people from different disciplines. It’s a bunch of new music for musicians and non-musicians, built around mindfulness and agency. More on this Project
Bliss
A high point in the creative output of our first decade: Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss asks us to ask for forgiveness for hours. The piece is a feat, that challenges singers and instrumentalists to focus on supporting one another, and then give that focus to an audience all together, for the herculean duration of 12 hours. More on this Project
david lang | anatomy theater
An honor to give the world premiere of david lang’s anatomy theater at LA Opera. More on this Project
Björk at FYF
Sometimes...you get a great phone call. They ask for 16 hours of rehearsal and extra insurance for “tons of pyro on stage.” Björk is a hero of ours, this was an incredible experience. More on this Project
To The Fullest
The music of legendary collaborators Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell is singular and boundless. These are expansive, quintessentially queer pieces in which every moment is full of choice. Their profound and personal sounds demand that performers become unabashedly themselves, merging and getting lost in the notes and rhythms, finding themselves again and again, and emerging whole and newly committed to self. This intrapersonal endeavoring is matched externally with musical structures that create profound belonging within a group. More on this Project
Endless Season 24|25
Endless Season continues internationally and across Los Angeles, as we embark on a year of festivals, residencies, and deep explorations of sound and those close-to-the-heart feelings that draw us toward one another. More on this Project
Endless Season 23|24
This 2023-2024 Endless Season puts Wild Up members at the center more than ever, showcasing the creative energy of this community of artists. There will be a dozen concerts featuring members not only as brilliant performers but also as composers and creators. More on this Project
…[R]aucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant...this group’s boisterously theatrical sensibility...draws out the vitality in the works it plays. [A] fun-loving, exceptionally virtuosic family. – The New York Times , “Review: East Meets West in a New York Debut”
Buy Tickets
We are based in Los Angeles and take the band on tour, so check our calendar for performances in your area. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified about our events.
Make it happen
Your support is vital to our existence. There are many ways you can help us thrive, including making a financial contribution.